October 6, 2005

Designer Discusses PC Game Aesthetics

By | October 6, 2005

Well-known independent game designer Ernest Adams delivered a lecture last night discussing everything from aesthetics to the popular video game Madden NFL Football. His lecture, entitled “The Future of Computer Entertainment, 2005-2050” followed a game design workshop held in Upson Hall.

The talk, presented by the Game Design Initiative at Cornell and funded by the Faculty of Computing and Information Science, the Department of Communication, and Ithaca College’s Roy H. Park School of Communications, focused on Adams’s view on the future of technology, marketing, and aesthetics in regards to game design. Adams, known for founding the International Game Developers’ Association, opened his speech with his opinions on the importance of technology in regards to game design.

“Technology is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for commercial success,” Adams said. He went on to elaborate that while consumers can expect advances in video game console speed and power, the industry’s focus is shifting to character design.

Adams, a visiting fellow at the United Kingdom’s University of Teesside, also contradicted the popular notion that the personal computer is going out of style. In a segment titled “Why the PC Will Never Die,” Adams offered his views on why the market for PC-directed games will remain healthy.

“People need to own PCs for other reasons, so developers will still make games for them,” he said. An area he did foresee expanding in the next 50 years was that of virtual and augmented reality.

Adams, who is currently acting as a consultant for an Australian company dealing with augmented reality, also predicted that immediate technological challenges would entail both improving quality for virtual and augmented reality and further exploring the possibilities of artificial intelligence in game design.

The next portion of Adams’s lecture dealt with demographics and marketing issues in the video game industry. He anticipated a greater focus on both second- and third-world countries as markets for new video games.

“India and China are ones to watch,” Adams said, citing their friendly policies towards foreign companies. He also spoke briefly about the obstacles to such international expansion for game companies. Chief among the challenges for the game industry was piracy.

“Piracy is hands-down our biggest problem,” Adams said. He called for government support in passing legislation and enforcing laws against the growing market of pirated software.

In his lecture, Adams attempted to address the piracy situation by suggesting new ways to market games. His ideas included electronic software distribution and video game delivery on the Internet – both efforts to get game developers closer to their consumers. He also incorporated the idea of marketing “mobile entertainment,” or games for PDAs, cell phones and other portable devices into this segment of his talk.

“Just as everything now contains a digital clock, everything will contain a cell phone,” Adams said. He urged further development of games for cell phones, noting that Japan was experiencing continuous increases in the popularity of mobile entertainment.

In the final section of his lecture, Adams discussed the future of aesthetics in regards to game design. He foresaw a gradual shift to the recognition of game design as an art form, calling for serious academic research to be done into the aesthetics of game design as well as replacing previously-held conventions about video and computer games.

“We must find new ways of attracting customers,” he said. These included everything from new types of games to new art styles for them. Adams made references to the need for an impressionist-like movement in the game industry. His ideas also drew parallels from the present-day movie industry with plans for highly-publicized awards for game design.

Audience members were very receptive to Adams’s views on the future of game design.

“Adams had a lot of insightful points and wasn’t afraid to contradict popular opinions regarding trends and the future,” said Greg Akselrod ’09.

Adams encouraged students in the audience to explore game design and test new concepts while still in school.

After remaining to answer audience questions, Adams offered his final thought on both the present and the future of game design: “It’s not about the technology, it’s about the people.”

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ByOctober 7, 2005

The Navy sprint football team (3-0) sailed away with a dominant victory over Cornell (1-2) on Sept. 23, recording a 41-0 victory on Schoellkopf Field. But luckily for the Red, that game was listed as a non-conference meeting between the CSFL foes and does not count towards final standings. Tonight will be a different story, however, as the Red opens league play against the Midshipmen in Annapolis, Md. The Midshipmen dominated the first half of play against the Red in the teams’ first bout of 2005, leading 35-0 after two periods. The Red took solace in its strong defensive performance in the second half, limiting Navy to only seven points. Head coach Terry Cullen is searching for consecutive wins for the first time all season after defeating VMI at home this past Saturday, 39-12. “There were a lot of positives from the VMI game,” Cullen said. “Our defense was strong, and [senior quarterback Alec] Macaulay played a real strong game for us. Our offensive line blocked better and we hope to build on our positives from the second half against Navy this week.” Navy has won the past seven matches with the Red, dating back to 1999, and Cornell trails overall in the historic series between the teams, 12-46-2. A key for the Red defense tonight will be secondary play and stopping Navy quarterback James Olson, who threw for four touchdown passes in the first contest. Cornell managed to sack Olson seven times in that game, but Cullen is looking for more pressure from the Red defense. The absence of starting defensive end senior Stevie Baron will be a tough obstacle to overcome for the veteran unit, but leaders like junior Matthew Collin and senior captain Amos Smith on the line, as well as junior linebacker John Samuel, who had a key first-quarter interception last week, classmate Jason Zittel and senior Ryan Juliano hope to pick up the slack. “The defense has been our most steady unit all year,” Cullen said. “I believe we knew that going into the year that our defense, which is filled with returning guys, would adjust the easiest, now it is just up to our offensive line to continue their progress.” According to Cullen, the key to getting the offense started will be the play of the offensive line – an aspect of the game that has been inconsistent for the Red this season. With four new starters, including junior Andrew Plaisted as left tackle, senior Daniel Bjornstrom at left guard, freshman center Ben Abramoff, and junior right guard Dave Frumberg, the line has been learning and making adjustments every week. “There are a lot of new guys on the O-line and it takes time to gel as a unit, but they certainly picked up their game [against VMI],” Macaulay said. “Navy is a much tougher opponent than VMI, but the fact that we have continued to improve through our first three games makes me optimistic for our rematch with Navy. If we play smart and with confidence, I think we can surprise Navy.” The better offensive blocking has resulted in a more efficient quarterback in Macaulay, and a more explosive running game featuring senior Michael Fullowan. Last week, Macaulay had his best performance, throwing for 103 yards and two touchdowns, including a long pass of 49 yards. Fullowan rushed for 50 yards and broke through for two touchdowns on the ground, as well as one in the air. Archived article by Josh Fox Sun Staff Writer

ByOctober 7, 2005

While the Red will not officially start its season until next spring, the men’s lacrosse team will have a taste of top-level competition when it competes in the Algonquin Cup on Sunday. The tournament, hosted by Hofstra, has a number of college lacrosse powerhouses participating including national runner-up Duke, Hobart, Stony Brook and St. John’s. The Red will face the hosts in its first game and would take on St. John’s if it wins. “This is taking the first big step in getting our guys’ feet wet for those who haven’t played for Cornell before, both freshman and other guys who haven’t played so much college lacrosse,” said Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni. Tambroni is especially looking forward to see how his relatively younger and inexperienced squad will fare in its first live action. Coming off a 2005 season in which the sole Ivy League champions lost to the Blue Devils in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, there are several question marks on the team due to the departures of graduates such as attacking duo Sean Greenhalgh ’05 and Kevin Nee ’05, midfielder Justin Redd ’05 and defensemen Kyle Georgalas ’05 and Casey Stevenson ’05. “[The tournament] gives us an opportunity for us to find out what we’re all about,” Tambroni said. “This year more than ever, we’re excited to find out who we are and where we are with this young group of freshmen and transfers that we have on the team.” Tambroni, who indicated that under NCAA rules that the team can only participate in one fall tournament each year, also said that the competition will help his coaching staff plan for the spring and give his guys the opportunity to show what they can do. “This will be a wonderful format for us to play some of college lacrosse’s best teams and you have to find out where you are and how much work you need to put in the offseason,” Tambroni said. “To come up with a lineup in the springtime which is going to be successful, then you might as well play against the teams you want to measure yourself up against.” This is the third-ever Algonquin Cup, with Army winning last year and Notre Dame taking the title in the competition’s first season of existence. Archived article by Brian Tsao Sun Assistant Sports Editor